Method of winding strand materials and package produced thereby



June 9, 1942. c. H. JONES 2,235,438

METHOD OF WINDING STRAND MATERIAL AND PACKAGE PRODUCED THEREBY Filed Oct. 30, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 6 I a I Q Wan- 6 Ww za June 9, 1942. c JONES 2,285,438

METHOD OF WINDING STRAND MATERIAL AND PACKAGE PRODUCED THEREBY Filed Oct. 30, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 9, 1942 METHOD OF WINDING STRAND MATERIALS AND PACKAGE PRODUCED THEREBY Charles H. Jones, Warwick, R. I., assignor to Universal Winding Company, Boston, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application October 30, 1940, Serial No. 363,547

4- Claims.

This invention relates to warp-wound cops or packages of yarn, thread-and other strand materials and to an improved method of winding the same.

By the term yarn as used in the following specification and claims is meant any type of strand material, whether textile or otherwise, and

by the term package is meant any warp-wound mass of yarn as distinguished from a weft-wound cop. I

One object of the present invention is to provide an improved method of winding and a package of yarn produced thereby having greater stability, less subject to soiling in the process of winding, and generally of such form and structure as to facilitate unwinding the yarn or other strand material therefrom in delivering it during subsequent transfer processes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method of winding and an improved package of yarn or other strand material which has been sized or otherwise treated with liquid, such as an emulsion material, to provide a more porous structure of the yarn mass, and a disposition of the turns or convolutions of the yarn to avoid their adhesion which would prevent free delivery in unwinding the strand.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved method of winding and a package produced thereby with the yarn deposited in layers of alternately increasing and decreasing length from minimum to maximum, and maximum to minimum, continuously throughout successive cycles.

Further objects of the invention are set forth in the following specification which describes the present improved method cf winding and several forms of package produced thereby, by way of example, as illustrated by the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view representing. an improved packpackage wound on a cylindrical core or tube of relatively small diameter with the yarn mass illustrated in section;

Fig. 4 is a view of a somewhat similar form of cop or package wound on a conical tube with the yarn mass shown in section;

Fig. 5 is a development of the surface of the I tube shown in Fig. 3 with the first few yarn turns or convolutions of the yarn represented by lines of diflerent character to illustrate their disposition; and

Fig. 6 is a similar development of the surface of the core or tube shown in Fig. 3 illustrating the disposition of the coils of yarn wound with a maximum traverse and also the arrangement of the coils of minimum traverse to indicate the variation in the angularity of the turns or helices of the yarn.

The product of the present improved method of winding consists in a mass of yarn .wound on a suitable axial core and built up with superimposed layers of the coils of yarn of greater and lesser traverse alternating to form the central body of the package of maximum diameter or thickness with tapering end portions. The type of package illustrated in Fig. 1 of the present drawings is produced by winding the yarn on a cylindrical core or tube of relatively large diameter, this type of package being especially well adapted for use in winding silk 'and synthetic materials, such as that known by the trade-name nylon, while treating the yarn with an emulsion of size, oil or other liquid. The present improved method of winding is also adapted for producing other types of packages, for example, that illustrated in Fig. 3, having the yarn wound on a relatively small cylindrical core or tube and built up in overlying layers of progressively increasing and decreasing extent of traverse to form a mass with a central cylindrical portion and tapering ends. Likewise, the yarn may be wound on a conical tube by the same method of disposing the coils in superimposed layers of alternately increasing and decreasing extent to form a conical body of maximum thickness with tapering ends such as illustrated in Fig. 4.

The present improved method of winding con-- sists in depositing the yarn on the surface of an axial core or tube with superimposed layers of helical coils which may start with a maximum length of traverse and gradually decrease in extent to a wind.

it has been found that a very gradual change in the length of traverse from the maximum to the minimum, and from minimum to maximum, will give satisfactory results.

Referring to Fig. 1, the yarn is laid on the axialcore or tube T in open helices having several turns or convolutions around the tube from one end of the traverse to its opposite end. The traverse is then reversed and the yarn coiled around the tube in the opposite direction and, as illustrated in the present drawings, a satisfactory disposition of the turns of winding contemplates the use of what is termed a four- With this particular wind" the yarn makes four turns around the axial core or tube T in leading from one end to the other and its traverse is then reversed in a sharp bend or "knuckle? to make four turns in the opposite direction. Considering, for convenience of description, that the winding is started with a traverse of maximum extent, the length of traverse is gradually reduced continuously until the minimum is reached and then the traverse is increased gradually and continuously until the maximum is reached, and so on in successive cycles.

' As an example of one method of varying the length of traverse of the yarn in winding the present improved type of package, it has been demonstrated that starting with the maximum extent and reducing the traverse gradually to the minimum, and then increasing the traverse to the maximum, this cycle may be completed four times a minute, or once in every fifteen seconds, when winding the yarn at a spindle speed of 1210 R. P. M. The type of package illustrated in Fig. 1 is preferably wound on a cylindrical core or tube of approximately six and one-eighth inches outside diameter and seven inches long with a maximum traverse of five and five-eighths inches and a minimum traverse of approximately two inches, varied in alternate succession throughout continued cycles of the winding process. It is to be understood, however, that the ratio of change in the traverse length may be varied as desired.

Fig. 5. of the present drawings represents a development of the surface of the tube illustrated in Fig. 3 for the purpose of showing the change in angularity of the yarn coils as the. length of traverse is varied. Considering that the first traverse is of maximum length extending from a to b, the heavy full lines represent one travminates at e. In order to make the showing clear, the variation in length of traverse is exaggerated in the schematic view of Fig. 5, but even though the change in length of traverse is only slight, each reversal of the yarn will occur at a different point. More specifically, each reversal of the yarn will occur at a point within a plane normal to the axis of the package displaced a distance from a similar plane within which the point of starting is located. In this way the layers of winding alternately decrease and increase in extent with more yarn applied throughout the middle portion of the package than at its ends so that its end portions are sloping 0r inclined toward the surface of the core T.

As one important improvement, each coil of yarn laid around the core and superimposed on previously-wound coils undergoes a change in pitch or angularity as indicated in the diagrammatic view of Fig. 5. Thus, no two turns or convolutions of the yarn having close juxtaposition are laid at the same angle and consequently when unwinding the yarn the turns are not liable to catch one on another to impede the delivery. This feature of improvement is important in winding sized or emulsified yarns since the size or emulsion remains somewhat sticky or tacky as the turns are deposited on the package and with ordinary methods of winding, Where the coils are laid in parallelism andclosely adjacent each other, the parallel strands are caused to adhere. Consequently, necessary to unwind the yarn to deliver the material in subsequent processes the adherence of the coils will hinder its delivery, resulting in variations in the tension on the yarn and in some instances causing what are termed plucks when the yarn is wound into another package.

In the diagrammatic view of Fig. 6 the relative change in angularity of the turns of winding as the traverse is reduced from maximum to minimum is illustrated graphically by the heavy and light lines. It will be observed that with the maximum traverse the yarn is laid with a relatively long lead or pitch whereof the turns make a sharp angle with the axis of the coil, but when the traverse is reduced to the minimum the coils of yarn have much less angularity, the change in angularity being continuous. That is to say, the angle of lay changes from one end of the traverse to the other and back again and the change is continuous throughout all traverses with a maximum degree of change between the coils in the layers of maximum and minimum diameter.

As another important advantage of the present improved method of winding the position of reversal of traverse of the yarn is constantly changing so that no two adjacent return bends or "knuckles are exactly overlaid to cause piling of the yarn and the forming of ridges on the surface of the package. v Moreover, due to the erse of the yarn encircling the core t in four traverse is reversed again at d with the turns extending back in the opposite direction as indicated by the lighter dash 'lines where it terfact that the layers. are alternately increasing and decreasing in length the ends of the package are built up in tapering form with the disposition of the reverse bends continuously changing so that there is less liability of the delicate material becoming soiled by the adherence thereto of dust and dirt in the air due, in some instances, to the presence of static electricity. In other words, the present method of lengthenin and shortening the layersof winding results in covering the yarn in the tapered ends of the package with subsequently deposited layers; whereas, with a package of cylindrical or conical shape having subwhen it is A M! f stantially square ends all the yarn built up by the reverse bends at the ends of the package is continuously exposed throughout the complete winding process and, due to the influence of static electricity and molecular attraction, the dust, motes and fly in the air will adhere thereto to soil and otherwise disfigure the yarn.

As a further advantage of the shape of the present improved package and the disposition of the reverse bends or knuckles therein, the package will stand rough handling without breaking down at its ends and without the yarn being sloughed oil. If the package i subjected to a rubbing action by careless handling the coils at the ends of the package will not be displaced since they have a firm support on the tapered surfaces; whereas, with an ordinary warp-wound package having flat ends the coils are liable to slip or to be forced over the edges and down across the ends of the package to impede delivery and cause plucks when the yarn i unwound.

It will be observed from the foregoing specification that the present improved method of winding produces a warp-wound cop or package which, owing to its form and structure, has

greater stability; that because of th novel dis-- position of the coils of yarn in the package its mass is more porous and consequently will dry more quickly when the yarn is sized or otherwise treated with liquid during the winding process; that the yarn in the package is less liable to become soiled by the adherence of dust and motes in the air due to the overlaying of its I tapered ends with yarn coils continuously throughout the winding; that the yarn will deliver more freely from the surface of the package in unwinding it due to the fact that adjacent coils or convolutions of the yarn are laid at varying angles so that they will not adhere when sticky or tacky, and the yarn will balloon away from the package freely in unwinding it therefrom since adjacent turns do not lie in parallelism.

While the present specification describes one satisfactory method of winding the improved package and several forms of the resultant yarn mass, it is to be understood that variations may be made in the magnitude and order of the variations in the length of traverse of the layers of yarn wound into the package and in its general shape without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, without limiting myself in this respect, I claim:

1. An improved metlod of winding synthetic yarns and other strand materials consisting 'in.

traversing the yarn longitudinally of the axis of a substantially cylindrical core to deposit it in helical turns or convolutions disposed at varying angles throughout the winding with the traverses of yarn alternately increasing from a minimum extent to a maximum extent but with the minimum and maximum extent of traverse remaining constant throughout the winding,- and discontinuing the winding when the mass of material is of relatively small diameter with respect to the diameter of the core so that said mass is formed with gradually tapered portions at each end substantially equal in length to a central cylindrical portion with the taper feathered to a thin edge at the ends of the package to avoid building the ends up in planes perpendicular to the axis of the core.

2. An improved method of winding synthetic yarns and like materials consisting in providing a substantially cylindrical core of relatively large diameter in proportion to they diameter of the package to be wound and traversing the yarn longitudinally of said core to form helically extending convolutions with the traverse continuously changing alternately from minimum to maximum extent and maximum to minimum extent again, but with the minima and maxima traverses of constant extent throughout the whole winding, and discontinuing the winding when the central portion of the package reaches a certain diameter with lateral portions tapering toward each end and feathered out inthin edges to prevent the ends of the mass from projecting in planes normal to the axis of the core.

.3. An improved cop or package of synthetic I thereto and with the length of traverse of the I yarn alternately increasing and diminishing from minimum to maximum extent and back to minimum and the mass of yarn formed with a cylindrical central portion slightly greater in diameter than that of the core and taperin from its cylindrical portion to the ends of the mass with the ends of the tapered portions feathered out to extreme thinness without any marginal portions of the mass lying in planes normal to the axis of the core.

4. An improved cop or package of synthetic yarn or like strandmaterial wound on a core of relatively large diameter, said package shaped with a central cylindrical portion only slightly minishing extent of traverse but with the maxima and minima traverses remaining constant throughout the whole mass.

CHARLES H. JONES. 

